August 2015 – Page 2 – Book Journey

Morning Meanderings… I Am Back For The Journey

Published on August 21, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

Still here.

Once again I am surprised how easily I slip away these past months. I just drift out of my normal routine which is often replaced by not much… sorrow, thinking, trying to adjust…

but lately as those of you who know me and know my activities it has been about 7 weeks of preparing for my sons benefit,spending time with a dying friend, a color run event for my son, another hard funeral, a bike ride fund-raiser, followed by the planning of Wine and Words year 3 and then last Thursday we had Wine and Words, our biggest year yet.

I followed all of this up with a day of catching up on things neglected – laundry, household basics, and mowing the lawn… and then on Saturday morning…

I drove 3 hours to our cabin with a few friends and stayed until Tuesday evening.

Usually after Wine and Words Justin and I would go to the cabin and chill for the weekend eating junk food, playing board games, and watching movies… LAZY stuff. I knew this would be a hard weekend as Justin and I had talked about this weekend in March about how we were excited to just hang out again. Instead… in this newness, I went with friends and we did watch moves and eat junk food, but we also went shopping, exploring, biking…. it was more active and it was nice.

The last couple of days since returning home I have been pretty tired. Emotionally and physically from the past 6 weeks of pretty much none stop activity while dealing with my great grief. Yesterday I took a long nap. This morning I woke up at 5 am stayed up until 6:30 am… went back to bed and got up again at 9 am. I am starting to feel a bit of energy returning and have no plans over the weekend which I am thankful for… I can set the pace.

As for this world of Book Journey – I am hopeful that I am back. My reading has been slow, but I do have reviews to write. I miss hanging out here with all of you and I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of visiting all of you and seeing what you are reading as well.

Still here. Still hanging on.

Morning Meanderings… COFFEE and Thoughts of Justin

Published on August 9, 2015August 9, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Sunday.

It is quiet in the house. Al left around 8 am to look at job sites. I am here sitting with COFFEE cup catching up on a few emails before I start my day with a visit to my aunt and probably mowing the lawn.

Even the dogs are having a restful morning.

book journey — Mater and Sammy sleeping at opposite ends of the couch this morning

My thoughts are never far from Justin and as you can imagine I find him everywhere in everything. Last evening, I brought the doors out for Wine and Words to repaint. The doors, are a set of doors that we picked up three years ago at a Re-Store (used furniture and hardware store that raises money for Habitat For Humanity). The doors we hinged together and I painted with a chalk board paint. In paint markers I wrote across the top of the doors

What books opened doors for you?

Guests loved this. Authors took pictures of the doors to use the idea at future events. And the doors… the doors became a staple of our event. Every year I repaint them and start anew.

So… anyway…

I brought the doors out to paint yesterday and when I opened them on the back side I found this…

As you can imagine… tears everywhere. My son wrote this at last years event. Perfectly up in a corner where it would be easy to leave on the doors. And of course you know… I did not paint over it.

It is these little things I seem to stumble upon day to day. A note, a memory, a card in the mail, or… even this package that came to my house this week…

This package came from a company that Justin created the logo for. Out of the blue… they sent this lovely package and a letter.

Right? Tears. Beautiful tears though. My son is loved. My heart… is full of the amazing people that were in his life. When he says above that Harry Potter helped him understand miracles like magic, I smile… he was magic. He was my miracle.

This is what grief looks like in writing.

Gah. I digress.

This was supposed to be a happy post. And it is… every day I fight to move forward trying to resemble “me”. Whoever I am now.

On a bookish note, I have been thinking more about What Are You Reading, the Monday meme. I think I will bring it back the first Sunday in September. I was going to start last week but was too tired. Next Sunday I plan to be at our cabin and I have no internet there so don’t want to stop and start and stop. I am not reading much due to the fullness of July and then the two events – Camp Benedict Bike Ride and now Wine and Words. Every day I am working on something but books will come back – that is the beauty of them… they wait for us.

Saturday Snapshot…. It’s Happening.

Published on August 8, 2015August 8, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Well I certainly did not plan on being MIA this past week here, but I see my last post was a week ago. A week on heavy library activity and we are down to the wire planning for Wine and Words. Lots of busy volunteers out there making the final steps happen. This week I worked on the table brochure, seating arrangements with my friend Sue, lots of email communications, sponsor information, phone calls, ticket sales, communications to our venue, and tomorrow myself and the Co-Chair Gail will hopefully take care of the final silent auction items which we are planning on a good 4-6 hours at the library doing that.

Whew.

Anyhoo…

This week at the Brainerd Public Library a lot of things were happening fast.

We got the word that the cement people were coming to lay out the plan for the benches and give the bid.
The Library Director and I went and layed out the plan for the benches and where they would go.
When they came the bid was a good one and they said they would be able to do the job on Friday. (Yesterday)
Friday!!!!
We hit “go mode” and bought materials to put stone around two of the trees in the area the benches would go to add a nice park feel to the area.
I dug up hostas from my own gardens because I loved the symbolism of having the plants being from our home where my son’s bench was going to be placed.
Thursday we were able to work on it a little bit in the morning and then we were rained out.
Friday morning we finished the hosta project (including a bonus space because we had extra stones) and the cement people did their thing.
The benches will go in early this next week.

A little background on the benches for those of you who are not familiar with my story of the past 4 months…. when my 24 year old son was killed in a car accident in April of this year, the book community did an AMAZING thing. A group of bookish friends who I have connected with through here, started up a bench fund so a bench could be placed at our local library in memory of my son.

My heart… runneth over.

This bench led to the Friends of the Brainerd Public Library moving forward on something we had talked about over the last couple of years, and that was putting some nice outdoor benches outside the Library. The Friends, on top of what the book community started with Justin’s bench, tossed in an additional $10,000 so we could add a bench on both sides of Justin’s as well as an octagon picnic table, a heavy duty garbage can, and two more benches for the Children’s outdoor area of the library.

I will post pictures once the benches are in place. I have seen Justin’s bench and it is BEAUTIFUL.

book journey, Sheila DeChantal, Justin DeChantal, Brainerd Public LIbrary — The two trees that we planted the hostas around.

Mckay Concrete, DeChantal, Book Journey, Brainerd Public LIbrary — Preparing for the benches

Brainerd Public Library, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal — Prepping the Children’s Area ( we had planned on two benches but changed our mind and had them prep for 4. We will order two more benches.

Brainerd Public LIbrary, Book Journey — The moving of “Ben” the old bench that has sat in the bench planning area since the library was moved to this location.

Brainerd Public Library — Jolene the library director working on the third “bonus” hosta bed.

As you can imagine, this whole project has been bitter sweet. I love being a part of it and digging my hands into the dirt knowing that this will become a place where people will sit and read, and talk, and enjoy. For those of you who contributed to making this happen… I can not thank you enough. Even now, 4 months in I still cry every day. This bench… this project means so much.

Thank you.

I am posting this to Saturday Snaphot, where people all over the world can add pictures of what is happening in their lives. ♥

Saturday Snapshot… The Month, The Bike Ride… and oh yeah… The Tattoo

Published on August 1, 2015August 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

https://bookjourney.wordpress.com/ — Camp Benedict Bike Ride 2015: L: Belinda, Sheila W, Me, and Farrah

I have not been a part of Saturday snapshot for well… lets say a long time. Today seemed like a good day to do this one again. July was a crazy mess. On top of my own grief, my friend Connie went into the hospital on July 3rd and by the 5th we were told she would not be coming out. This lead to the next couple of weeks of visiting the hospital almost daily, in some cases twice a day. At the end of each day I would be a bundle of emotions – grief on grief I started to call it. On the morning of Thursday July 16th she passed away with her husband and two sons beside her. The world lost yet another amazing person. This set off another flurry of activity as I set up a meal train and helped the family as they needed throughout the weekend and the week of the funeral. On the afternoon of the 17th a friend posted on Facebook she was going to get a Rhino tattoo. (Rhino was our team name for the bike ride, named after a book Connie received 32 years ago when she first became sick called Rhino Success, about being strong and courageous and CHARGING ON like a Rhino no matter what. When Trisha asked if I would do the tattoo with her… I said yes without hesitation…

Points to Vicki who spotted this on my foot in a picture I posted a couple of days ago in a Morning Meandering. Great eye Vicki! (I’d Rather Be at the Beach) 😉

Three days after the funeral was the Camp Benedict Bike Ride that Connie had created to raise money for Camp Benedict each year. The Camp Board had decided in early July that we would move ahead with the bike ride. So….. that led to a whirlwind of other activity weaving throughout all of this other stuff in July… working on rider count, lining up many volunteers, promoting, planning food for the ride, awards, t – shirts (Connie had already designed this years t shirt), permits, marking the road, etc…. Thank goodness for a great team of helpers! Any hoo…. here for Saturday Snapshot are some of the ride pics…

This is before the ride.... Riders ready! — This is before the ride…. Riders ready!

THis is my friends Belinda (standing) and Sheila at the day one lunch stop — This is my friends Belinda (standing) and Sheila at the day one lunch stop

One of the pit stops had a cool super hero theme and photo booth.... oh we had fun with that — One of the pit stops had a cool super hero theme and photo booth…. oh we had fun with that

This is the potatoes that were cooking at Camp... Vicki made a lot of delicious potatoes! — This is the potatoes that were cooking at Camp… Vicki made a lot of delicious potatoes!

Ready to go... day 2 — Ready to go… day 2

Connie's son Nathan and his girlfreind Audrey rocking the t shirts Connie made this year. A super fun fact - both of Connie's sons and husband participated in the ride. — Connie’s son Nathan and his girlfriend Audrey rocking the t shirts Connie made this year. A super fun fact – both of Connie’s sons and husband participated in the ride.

And… let me just say day 2 was HOT. We were dreaming of riding our bikes right into a lake. Then when passing my friend Amy’s home we popped in to get a drink and wound up in their pool…. yes… in full on bike gear.

book journey, farrah mckinney, Sheila DeChantal — .. and that is where memories are made. 🙂

So there it is. That was last Saturday. The ride was a good way to complete a hard hard month and honor my friend Connie. Camp Benedict is a camp for families infected and affected by AIDS. I am proud to be the Vice President of this camp that I have watched change lives for the past 5 years that I have been a part of it and I am sure many years before I became involved. Camp Benedict is a non profit 501C3. If you or anyone you know would like to donate to this camp here is a link:

Today… I think I am laying low. In fact I think I am laying low for the weekend and I am looking forward to it. July was crazy busy and even this past week was filled with Wine and Words activity, a visit from one of Justin’s good friends, and catching up on my yard and home. Books and audio and sitting in the sun are on the agenda.